Escape
by BlackIris999
Summary: When the School decided to experiment agian, what will happen to seven kids who get experimented on? This is their story of how they met up with the flock and try to stop the School, once and for all.
1. The Escape

Wow, I thought to myself, this cannot be happening. Well, the thing is I am different, well, more than normal. I am a kind of freak. It all started with my mom. As a scientist she loved to experiment. She heard a thing called the Power Project, catchy huh? Anyway, the project was supposed to make regular people part animal and combine people and animal DNA. When she found she was having me she decided to give me to the project when I was fourteen. Because I don't have a father, there was no one to stop her. When I turned fourteen I was handed over to the other scientist and military personal that were included in the Power Project.

Thus started the process and I was one of the first people to ever be experimented on. So I thought. Anyway, I was nervous and unsure if I would be the same ever again. Well, during the process there was a brilliant white light and immense pain. I thought my head was going to split in two and my body felt as if it was on fire, I felt my arms go numb then my legs, then I couldn't feel any part of my body. I could still see and saw a scientist came with a half-foot long needle. He injected it into my arm. I vaguely sensed I was falling asleep. I woke up in a place that was pitch black. I felt pain all over my body; everything hurt even my bones ached. I felt an urge to shake my bottom. I looked down and saw I had a tail. "Ahhhhhh," I screamed. I grasped the tail and saw it was real. I looked closely and saw there were spots on it. As I examined my tail, I saw my hands. I gasped and my heart started to beat, earlier there was a normal hand. Now, there was cheetah hair and my nails had grown razor sharp and about an inch longer. _Wait, _I thought, _How can I see?_

Finally after what seemed like forever a door opened. Guards came and groped around the room until they found me. Then they led me into a bright room. I grimaced and closed my eyes because the light was so bright. I heard someone talking and by their tone they seemed surprised, "Hi, Kate." I searched my brain looking for where I had heard that voice before, but I couldn't remember. I squinted my eyes and saw a stout, slightly overweight woman standing up and starting to circle me, "Wow, the results are quick." She pulled my tail and examined my hands. She caressed my hair and looked into my eyes. She started to extended my arms and examine them. They looked very muscular and had cheetah hair and spots on them too. She kept doing this until she had gone over every inch of my body, "We need to run physical tests."

"Yes, of course Lisa," Someone said matter of fact. Ding, ding, ding went off in my head. I knew who this was. "Mom?" I croaked. Lisa did nothing to have indicated that she had heard me. "Mom?" I said more firmly and loudly. Lisa turned around and looked at me, "What did you just say?" I opened my eyes fully and looked her right in the eye ignoring the pain, "Mom." Lisa looked amazed, "She remembers! How is this possible?" Her tone changed from shock to anger, "She wasn't supposed to remember, none of the others do!" I noticed there was another person in the room. Lisa seemed to be talking to her.

She was tall and skinny and had extremely long arms. "Well, if we used another scientist besides you, she wouldn't have remembered," she snapped, "But no. You had to see what you had created." Lisa seemed offened. I on the other hand felt like Frankenstein. The guard beside me asked, "Do you want me to take her to her cell?" "No, I want to run physical tests first," Lisa told him. The woman with the long arms said, "Yes take her to Cell 5816161." The guard didn't listen to Lisa but instead grabbed me roughly and I yelped. Out of instinct I swung my arm at his face and made contact with his nose. Blood erupted from his nose and started covering his face quickly. The guard started howling and clutching his nose. I saw this as my chance; I kicked him hard in the stomach and heard something snap. I turned and wrenched open the door. My legs started to hurt, but I brushed it aside and continued my escape. I flew down two flights of stairs and up another all the while hearing shouts of, "Get her," or, "Don't let her get away," following me as I went down another flight of stairs and ended up at a dead end. Several doors ran the length of the hallway and I ran into the nearest one.

What I saw was disturbing. Five kids all different ages were sprawled around the room. Most of them were wearing nothing but rags and they all had soot that covered their faces. This made me stop dead. "Who are you?" the littlest asked. He said black hair that was cropped short and deep blue eyes. He couldn't have been older than five. "I'm Kate. Who are you?" I asked completely on my guard and looking for a way to get out. There were no windows and the only way out was the way I came in. "I'm Jack. This is Karee," he said pointing to a girl who looked about seven. She had raven black hair with eyes so dark they seemed black. "This is Spike," Jack continued pointing to a boy who had electrifying white-blonde hair and he looked twelve, "This is Ash and that's Lief." They both looked a bit older than me. Ash had brown hair with blonde highlights that stood out; Lief had blonde hair and stunning green eyes that seemed to see everything. I nodded as each person was introduced. "So what happened to you?" Jack asked. I didn't answer and went over to the door and pulled. Nothing happened, so I pulled again. "What's wrong with this stinkin' door?" I asked angrily. "It only opens from the outside," someone said from the shadows. I jumped about a foot in air. Literally. A boy emerged; he looked the oldest at around sixteen. He had brown hair and brown eyes, and was pretty cute. I kicked the door. "That won't help," he put in. "Yea, well it's better to kick the door rather than kick one of you," I spat back.He nodded as if he understood. This made me mad.

"Like you would know," I snapped. "That's Shadow," Jack said. Shadow didn't say anything, he just studied me. Then I realized that all of them were different. Jack was like me only he had no spots, Karee had wings tucked loosely behind her back, Spike had little holes all over his body and when he noticed me looking, quills came out of the holes. I shuddered and he smiled. Ash had scales all over his arms and legs, and his pupils were slightly slanted, Lief and Shadow, well I couldn't see anything wrong with them.

"Look, watch this, come on Lief," Shadow said. They both went over to the door and pulled; the door went flying back and hit the opposite wall. "Oh, so you're freaks too?" I said nastily and started running back down the hall, only I ran into a guard. I slashed his throat before he could do anything and continued running. The other six were right behind me; I ignored them and ran to the wall. There was a barred window about six feet above me. I jumped and reached the ledge. I stared to claw at the metal and it slowly started to break.

Lisa had finally caught up. I hadn't realized I was so fast. Anyway she was right below me aiming a gun. Shadow crept up behind her and punched good and hard, so hard that you heard her lose her breath. They were holding on their own pretty well so I continued slashing at the bars. "Aha," I exclaimed. I kicked the rest of the bars and they flew across the grounds. "Wait for me!" Jack called and he jumped next to me then out the window. Thankfully we were on the first floor so it wasn't that far of a drop. Next went Karee and Lief who flew out the window side by side. Lief didn't need wings. Shadow was lifting Spike without difficultly and flew out the window. I was the last one out and I jumped, then ran and followed Jack. I passed him without difficultly and was soon flying by all of them and everything else; I was running at the speed of a cheetah. After a time I waited for the others.

When they got there, we set up camp without comment, like we knew each other for years. After a time I dozed off, exhausted.


	2. Moving Onward

I forgot to add this in my last chapter but, I do not own Maximum Ride but I do own the characters I created.

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A hand shook me from my sleep. I groaned and opened my eyes. It looked around, well I didn't know what time it was but I did know it was early. Red and pink hues were visible on the horizon and a mist snaked along the ground creating a soft blanket. I looked to see who had woken me and I saw it was Shadow. Then all at once the events of yesterday came flooding back to me. I groaned agian and sat up.

I looked around and saw all the kids. Jack was sleeping with his thumb in his mouth, Karee had curled up in a ball with her wings surrounding her, Lief was sleeping in a nearby tree, Ash was by the fire with a blanket, and Spike was sprawled on top of Ash.

"So, have you taken to us yet?" Shadow whispered. I turned to stare at him and slowly nodded. It was true I guess, I mean it was better to stick around with these guys than off on my own. "Why'd you wake me?" I asked whispering as he did. "I wanted some company," he said simply. "Then why didn't you wake Lief or Ash, they are both guys," I gumbled then yawned. "Yeah, but your the new girl, it's my job to get to know her." I glared at him then looked over at Ash, "How come he gets a blanket and the others don't?" "Well, Ash was combined with snake DNA. He's cold blooded just like a snake." I just stared.

"It means his body tempreture is the same as the tempreture out here," Shadow explained. I nodded then asked, "We have to keep moving, the first town we see we have to get some real clothes and eat something." Almost as soon as I had said that my stomach growled. "See?" I said. He laughed quietly. We sat there for a time just talking. He told me about the other kids and how there parents were scientists too. Also he told me what DNA eah person was combined with. Spike was combined with a porcupine, Jack was combined with a jaguar, Karee was part bird, Ash was part snake, and Shadow and Lief were part of a lot of different things. Shadow called himself part 'superman' whoever that was.

After we where done talking I realized it had gotten lighter but, it started to get cloudy and the air felt as if it was going to rain. Me and Shadow woke all the other kids up. They woke up without complaint and streatched. "I'm hungry," Jack said. "Yeah, me too!" Spike yelled.

"Okay you guys lets douse the rest of the fire and get ready to leave," Shadow comanded. The kids did as he told as pretty soon we were on our way. Lief and Karee carried Spike, Shadow carried Ash, and I had Jack on my back because he couldn't keep up. It was like this for a few hours unitl we came to a little town. Shadow told me to take the kids into a restuarant. "How am I going to pay?" I asked clueless. "Here," Shadow thurst a thick wad of bills into my hands.

"Where did you get these?" I asked in disbelief. He grinned. "Anyway I need clothes first, Jack too," I put in. He looked at me quizzicaly. "Our tails," I said. Realization spread across his face. "Fine, let's go," he said. We found a little store and went inside. I used the blanket to tie my waist. I then used Jack's shirt to tie his waist. When we walked into the store the first thing we saw was a gang of boys.

We quietly went by them and over to the clothes department. Me and Karee went togeather and the other boys went togeather. We picked out simple clothes and a simple backpack and I got some gloves and went to the front to pay for them. The gang of boys were still there and we ignored them as we paid for our clothes. After we had paid we tried to get outside to wait for the rest of the boys. Yup that's right _tried. _The gang of boys that were in the front of the store followed us out.

They followed us out and surrounded us. "Hey babe, where you goin'?" the leader asked. I tried to get around them but they didn't budge. "Move," I said. "Haha. The chick wants us to move," one of the boys said. "No, really, move!" Karee said quietly. "We'll move, closer to you," the leader said. All at once he fell down and two others with him. "Come on!" Shadow shouted. Quickly me and Karee followed the boys down the street and into the nearest cafe.

"Are you guys alright?" he asked quickly. "We didn't need your help, I could have gotten out of that by myself," I snapped angrily. "So, I just won't help you next time," Shadow said simply. "I'm going to change," I said and stormed into the restroom. I slipped on a pair of loose jeans and had to squish my tail into them. I put on a black tanktop and a red sweatshirt. Finally I added the leather gloves and went back to the table.

Only then did I realize I was ravenous. I ordered about half of the menu. As the waitress got our order I studied my surroundings and saw we were in an old-fashoned 50's diner. When the menu came I ate in record time and looked hungrily at the others plates. Spike didn't eat all of his and gave the rest to me. Ash and Lief also gave me theirs. Once we were done we were on our way again.

This thime we faced a different type of gang. Only we didn't realize that they would become our biggest problem yet.


	3. We Meet

As we went out of the diner we passed a bunch of ragged kids. A yearn to see what made them so ragged started to fill me. I saw a lump on one of their backs and before I could do anything Lief lifted the shirt of the tallest one. We all gasped. Wings were tucked neatly near the spine. "Run!" yelled the ragged blonde haired girl. The ragged gang of kids took off.

"Follow them," Shadow ordered. Quickly we sped off. Me and Jack caught up with ease because...well you know why. We ran ahead blocking their way forward, Spike, Karee, and Lief came up behind them and Shadow and Ash blocked their way from the air. They halted for a split second then sprang into action. With a swift roundhouse kick the blonde hit me square in the chest. I lost all my breath, but recovered quickly and delivered a good aimed punch at her nose.

Blood erupted from it and I turned to see how everyone else was doing. Jack was fighting a girl about his age and was doing terribly. I had no idea what that girl was doing but I rushed over to her and knocked her feet out from under her and told Jack to run. He ran a bit them turned and came back. In the time it took to get Jack out of trouble the blonde came and attacked with a new found vigor. In a series of punching and kicking I was found under her. She started to slowly crush my ribs and I clawed her legs.

She gasped and took her leg off me. I jumped up high to survey the area. Shadow was fighting a boy that resembled him except Shadow wasn't that dark, Lief and Ash were double teaming the tall boy and were holding off on their own. Spike was doing the best out of all of us. His spikes were out causing the boy he was fighting to stay clear of him.

I did that all in half a second as gravity pulled me back down. The blonde looked a little shocked to see that I could jump that high. When I was back down I ripped my tail out of my jean and flicked it angrily. I found more energy in my body to continue the fight only I never did.

As soon as I touched the ground a huge, overwhelming thing happened to me. I was experiencing memories one by one. Faster and faster they went pulling me under, until all the colors were one and everything sounded the same. Then all at once it stopped and I remembered nothing more.

I awoke to stillness like no other. I sat up and very quickly realized that was a bad thing, for it hurt to breathe. The memories of yesterday, and only yesterday, came flooding back to me. I looked around and saw why it was so quiet. Nothing moved, not one leaf stirred, it felt as if I had gone deaf.

But I knew I hadn't because I heard myself get up. I did a 360' turn and saw the ragged kids from yesterday were sprawled around a dying fire. I fed the fire then put it out as I realized I was helping the other gang. "What are you doing?" someone hissed from the fog that covered the ground. "Who the hell are you?" I said putting my guard up. "Shut up! Do you want to wake everyone else up?" they whispered angrily. I didn't reply but went to where the voice was coming from.

I looked him up and down and at first thought it was Shadow but after a quick look over it wasn't. I got ready to fight right as Shadow came from the fog. "It's okay Kat. He's a friend." I still was tense and ready to spring into action at any time. A voice behind me made me jump a few feet in the air. "Why are you all so loud?" It was the blonde girl from yesterday. "I'm Max," she said obviously pleased she had scared me somewhat. "Kate," I said coldly. I didn't really like her and I could tell she didn't like me.

"Where's everyone else?" My question was directed toward Shadow, instead the other boy answered, "Sleeping."

"Sleeping where?" I asked. "Over there," he said.

Okay now I was getting frustrated. "A few feet away from the fire," Shadow filled in to prevent me from doing anything. "That's Fang," Max said, "He's usually dark and quiet." I pretended not to hear her and saw Jack and Spike were quietly fighting. "What happened to you guys?" Shadow said sighing. I guess this happed a lot for them. "Spike took my bread," Jack complained.

"Did not!" Spike protested angrily.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too"

"Did not!"

"All right! ALL RIGHT!" Shadow yelled waking everyone else up and silencing the two boys. "Why is everyone yelling?" Karee asked groggily. "Nothing," Shadow muttered. "You alright there Kate? You had us worried yesterday," Ash said concerned. "I'm good, thanks," I said my cheeks growing hot. Max smirked and introduced us to her "flock". The little girl Jack was fighting terribly against yesterday was Angel; Spike was fighting a boy called the Gasman; Ash and Lief were fighting a boy named Iggy; Shadow was fighting Fang; and I, Max, but you probably all ready knew that.

Anyway as I came to that realization, I noticed that Karee wasn't involved in that fight. I brushed it aside and thought she was probably hiding. "Kate?" Ash said forcing me from my thoughts. "What?" I snapped. "Shadow wants you to see him, now," he added. I nodded and went over to where Shadow was surveying the area. By now all the fog had been lifted and I saw we were in a hilly place with huge looming mountains overlooking the valley we were in. "Where in the sane heck are we?" I asked bewildered. "Canada. Anyway there are more important things to discuss. You know the other kids?" I nodded. "Well," Shadow continued, "they came from the School too. All of them have wings."

"What's the School?" I asked. I felt really dumb today, asking all these questions. "It's where your mom worked." I nodded in understanding. "We're sticking with them," he said. "What!?" I asked in disbelief. "You heard me, they're our best bet. They've seen stuff we haven't, Max told me. So we leave when everyone is done packing," he finished them walked toward Max. I flicked my tail in frustration and looked down at my hands and noticed that my gloves were ripped, but the nails weren't sticking out.

I was puzzled then thought I could pull them long and short at will. I tried it and it worked perfectly. I did it with the hair on my arms and face and it worked too. This was the best thing that had happened to me all day. Little did I know that, that was going to be the best thing that would happen to me in awhile


	4. My Plan

We went for awhile without stopping that day. I looked up at Shadow and asked, "Who's that other girl?" Shadow looked in the direction I was pointing to and said, "Oh, that's Nudge. She and Karee were the only ones not fighting yesterday. Don't ask me why though." I shrugged and looked ahead. We were flying across Canada and trying to get to the west coast. Max and the flock flew as well as the rest of us. The ones who couldn't got stuck with ones that could.

Lief was carrying Spike and Ash with ease. He winked when he saw me staring with my mouth agape. I blushed furiously and turned away. Karee was carrying Jack who seemed to be enjoying it immensely because he kept laughing every time a strong gust of wind hit his face. Well, you might be wondering who I was with. If you don't know, you probably aren't the brightest bulb in the world. But just to help you out, I got stuck with Shadow.

Don't get the wrong idea or anything I didn't mind being with Shadow, but it was kind of scary to know that the only thing preventing you from going SPLAT was his strength and his hands. Flying wasn't bad but I would rather have my feet firmly on the ground than dangling in the air. He shifted my position and I gulped as I looked down, I wasn't particularly fond of heights. "Can you please not do that," I said nervously. He just laughed and went faster to catch up with Max.

Our gang got the hint and followed. "I'm hungry!" Jack and Spike yelled.

"Yeah, me too. Can we like go down and get something nice and warm to eat because it got colder as we were flying and I need something to warm me up and-" Nudge said firing one word after another until Max shut her up, "Yes, Nudge we'll get something to eat. Okay everyone let's go down." We all followed her toward a McDonald's and went inside. I wasn't that hungry.

Dropping like a bomb out of the sky wasn't the calmest feeling and it made you want to upchuck your breakfast. I swayed a little then when the world stopped spinning I followed the others inside. We all ordered huge meals and I ordered one too after I had managed to keep my breakfast in my stomach. We ate quickly and bolted out the door as soon as we were done.

We had the same flying layout as before, but I got stuck with Lief instead of Shadow. Lief made my fear of heights even greater than before when he thought it was fun to let me free fall through the sky for a few feet then yank me back up. After a time Shadow told him to quit it and I could have jumped for joy.

When the sun started to set, a mountain range was just visible in the distance. "We have to try to make there by tomorrow," Max said jerking everyone out of their train of thought, everyone but Nudge that is. "Max, I'm tired," Angel said looking like she was ready to drop. "Yeah, me too," the Gasman said yawning.

"Okay everyone lets land in that clearing over there," she commanded. One by one we landed without a sound in the clearing. Shadow and Fang started a fire and slowly we all fell asleep until just me, Max, Fang, Iggy, Shadow, Lief, and, Ash were up. No one talked just stared at the fire. "How come we have to go to the west coast?" I asked quietly.

Max stared at me and said short and quick, "The School is there." I met her gaze and saw fear and anger. I cocked one eyebrow up and she continued, "Sources have told me that the School is plotting something bigger than the By-Half Plan. It could mean the end of all humanity."

"What's the By-Half Plan?" I asked.

"It was Itex's plan to reduce the world's population by a lot. Only the strong hybrids like us, could survive. But, we stopped them and thought we had ended it once and for all," Iggy stated. "Thought?" Lief said.

"Yes, thought. Up until now there was no sign that Itex was rebuilding, plotting, and experimenting again. But recently there has been things that have hunted us before, hunt us again," Max sighed, "Now, we're on the run..._again_."

Shadow looked at me and gave me a look that said, _See she does know stuff we don't. _I shook my head and looked over at Fang; he hadn't said a work at all. "I got first watch," he suddenly said. Max nodded and went next to Angel. I went to the opposite side of the fire soaking in all the information like the fire was consuming sticks.

_The problem is, what kind of things? Can we trust her?_

That question bounced around in my head preventing me from going to sleep. Doubts crept to the surface of my mind and I tried to brush them away but couldn't. I needed to get away, _tomorrow night,_ I decided, _I'll run away..._

That shut my mind up for awhile as I went into a dreamless sleep.


	5. Backstabbers

**I don't own any Maximum Ride characters!!**

* * *

Shit.

We had flown all day without stopping and now we were on the coast. The sea air filled my lungs and I breathed in deeply. We had flown over the mountians which turned out to streatch all the way to the coast. Behind us there was mountains and in front of us there was the ocean. I couldn't escape. The mountains were too big to cross and where would I swim to? I barely know up from down.

"Okay everyone, be on your guard," a weary Angel said, "there is something here besides us." Max did an automatic 360 and saw nothing but her movements were tense. Shadow scanned the skies and suddenly took off. "Shadow what are you doing?! Come back here now," I screamed. "I'll get him," Lief volunteered. "No. I will," Fang said. Those were the only three words I had ever heard him say.

"Oh, so now you talk," I muttered under my breath as he took off. Lief looked very put out and it wasn't long before he took off after Fang. "Where are they going?" Jack asked, his eyes trying so hard to stay open. "Sorry, buddy. I don't really know," I said looking up.

"What's happening?" Iggy asked. "Well, can't you see?" I snapped. "No," he said a little forlorn. I reeled back in shock, "You're blind?" He didn't look blind at all, he acted like any other person. I whistled low and looked up. "Ahh!" Nudge and Karee schreeched at the same time.

Someonw was free falling out of the sky. A drop of over a hundred feet; enough to feel like you're hitting cement. Max and Iggy sprang into action and flew out as fast as they could, Max getting there before Iggy. She swept underneath him, but he weighed too much and she was falling too. Iggy then sensed where they were and scrambled after them reaching them right before they hit the water.

Everyone else looked on in wide-eye silence. Fang and Shadow flew down carrying something, so the one that fell must have been Lief. "Is he okay?" the Gasman said timidly. "I think so. Iggy check him over," Max ordered. Iggy let his fingertips skim Lief's skin. We were all holding our breath and relaeased it as he said, "He's fine, just knocked out."

"What happened?" Ash demanded. "The thing up there," Shadow pointed his hand up, "Was a..."

"Flyboy," Fang filled in. "We have to keep moving, let's go," Max said arubtly, "Angel, can you sense any more?" Angel furrowed her brow in concentration and shook her head, "I can't tell that thing is blocking me." We all looked to where she gestured. It was the object that Shadow and Fang were carrying. It was a large round steel ball, but as soon as Angel said that they dropped it.

"What is it?" I asked. "If we knew, then why would we be wondering?" Max snapped. I backed off still angry and Shadow shot me a look. I glared at him and shook my head. "Look, I've been thinking about this for awhile," Ash said out of the blue. "I don't want to be a part of any of this," he said slowly, "I hate it, a lot. So I was thinking maybe I cou-"

"No!" Shadow said sharply. "We all stick togeather."

"I was afraid you'd say something like that," Ash whispered. He laughed and edged closer to Shadow. Out of the corner of my eye I saw his clench his fists and he grinned like a maniac. I lunged toward him, but he lunged at the same time. His teeth sank into Shadow's skin and blood flooded out. The Gasman and Iggy grabbed something out of a backpack and hurled it towards Ash.

I tried to grab Karee, who had been standing next to him. As soon as I tried to carry her, I couldn't. "Move Karee!" I yelled right in her face. She didn't do anything, just stood there with a stupid smile on her face. Out of nowhere a fist came crashing down on my nose. "Oww!" I howled in pain. I looked to see where the fist was coming from and was met by another.

I staggered a bit and fell over, then I remembered I had claws. I grew them to their full extent and lashed them out and relaized I had hit Spike. "Oh my God. I'm sorry." He punched me back and stuck a quill in my side. I grunted in pain and tried to sit up, but it hurt to much. I laid there panting hard and heard the sounds of a fight. It sounded more than just our group. A big bang sounded and I felt debis fall everywhere.

I felt a strong pair of hands grad my waist, and I sucked in deeply, "Damn!" "Don't swear," it was a male voice. I felt him look down and he whistled deeply, "That looks bad." "Yeah, ya think?" I opened my eyes a bit and saw Shadow was carrying me. I looked around and saw we were in the air. Max and Fang were carrying Lief, Iggy was carrying Jack and Nudge and Angel were free.

"What about your arm?" I asked quietly as I closed my eyes and rested against his chest. He grunted and I opened my eyes and looked over at his arm. "Shadow!" I said sharply then wished I hadn't, "Shit."

"Shut up. It's not as bad as it looks. It's not deep and I don't think it's poisonious," he said thoughtfully. "Don't think? He tried to kill you, what's up with him?" I shifted position and gasped. "Max can we land, we have to get this quill out of Kate's side," he called. "Can you wait a bit, we have to keep moving," she called back. Shadow nodded. "Answer my question," I told him.

"What question?"

"What happened back there?" Shadow looked down at the water thoughtful. "I think," he said slowly, "that he was never really on our side at all. I think the whole breakout was supposed to happen. Once we broke out we learned about Itex, and I don't think we were supposed to know about that. Whatever we learned, I think Ash, Karee, and Spike had access to Itex or the School. I think they were double crossing us," he finished.

"So you think they were working for Itex, but were pretrending to be against it?"

"Yes, exactly." I raised my eyebrows and eyed Shadow's cut. He followed my gaze. "Please don't worry about me, you're in the same boat, you don't see me fussing over you," It hadn't ment to hurt but it did. I looked away and turned foward. "Though I really want to, I'm not that kind of person," he added. It really didn't make sense to me at the time but I shook my head and looked up at him.

The sun illumated his face at just the right angle so he looked like an angel. I smiled and he laughed, "What's gonig through your head, Kate, anything I should know about." I punched him then grimiced in pain. "Why can't you take it out now?" I said looking at the place in my side where the quill was. "I'm afraid I might drop you." I gulped and looked down a bit. "Okay, you guys, we can land now," Max said.

"Thank God! I'm starving, I haven't eaten in...sense this morning. So, Max could we go get something to eat, please, please, please, plea-" "Yes, Nudge, we have to make camp first," Fang sighed. We landed, Shadow putting me down as gracefully as he could, but it hurt a whole lot. I laid down on my side with difficultly. Iggy skimmed a finger over the quill. "Take your sweatshirt off," he ordered. "Ugh, is she going to have to take her shrit off too?" the Gasman said disgusted.

"No. Okay this might hurt a bit, Kate," he thought for a minute then said, "it might hurt a lot." He put his fingers on the quill and yanked it out. "Oww!" I screamed, even my eyes watered. I clutched my side and looked at it. It was purple and blue where it was bruised, but it wasn't bleeding, ehich was good. "Now was that so bad?" Iggy asked playfully.

"You could have warned me you would just yank it out," I spat. "Okay let's find somewhere to eat," Max said and we started off.


End file.
